Deadline Hollywood - Emmy Nominees Part 1 - 08/10/16

PRESENTS

AUGUST 10, 2016 EMMY NOMINEES / PART 1

SPIES OF THE DAY HOW THE AMERICANS, STARRING KERI RUSSELL AND MATTHEW RHYS, FINALLY CAME IN FROM THE COLD.

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DEADLINE.COM/AWARDSLINE

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TATIANA MASLANY JAMES CORDEN JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS MORGAN FREEMAN THOMAS MIDDLEDITCH

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FOR

Y O U R E M M Y C O N S I D E R A T I O N ®

OUTSTANDING UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR AN UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM

‘‘TRANSFIXING...

FASCINATING’’ YAHOO

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EMMY 2016 ®

©2016 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

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CONTENTS AUGUST 1 0, 201 6 EM M Y NOM INEES / PART 1

P U B L I S H ER

Stacey Farish EDI TOR

Joe Utichi C R EAT I V E DIR ECTO R

Craig Edwards

AS S I STA N T E D ITO R

Matt Grobar

DEA DL I NE CO - E D ITO R- IN- CHIE FS

Nellie Andreeva Mike Fleming Jr.

4-13

FIRST TAKE How live musicals have become TV’s latest obsession.

Laurie Metcalf celebrates a golden year with three Emmy nods.

EX EC U T I V E E D ITO R

Michael Cieply

AWA R DS ED ITO R & CO LUM NIST

Pete Hammond

The nominees for Main Title Design brighten up the shows they touch.

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COVER STORY Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys watched as critical darling The Americans failed to score any Emmy love in its first few seasons.

But with Season 4, the TV Academy has finally taken notice.

DEA DL I NE CO NTR IBUTO RS

Peter Bart Anita Busch Anthony D’Alessandro Lisa de Moraes Patrick Hipes Ali Jaafar David Lieberman Ross Lincoln Dominic Patten Erik Pedersen Denise Petski David Robb Nancy Tartaglione

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THE DIALOGUE: NOMINEES GALLERY Michael Kelly Tatiana Maslany Kerry Washington Thomas Middleditch James Corden Julia Louis-Dreyfus Cuba Gooding Jr. Bob Odenkirk & Jonathan Banks Tom Hiddleston Morgan Freeman

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EMMY HANDICAPS Pete Hammond takes a look at this year’s main acting categories.

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FLASH MOB Television Critics Association Summer Tour

ON THE COVER: KERI RUSSELL & MATTHEW RHYS PHOTOGRAPHED

BY MARK MANN AT THE DEER MOUNTAIN INN, TANNERSVILLE, NY THIS PAGE: TATIANA MASLANY PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSH TELLES

C HA I R MA N & CEO

Jay Penske

V I C E C HA I RM A N

Gerry Byrne

C HI EF OP ERATING O FFICE R

George Grobar

S EN I OR V I C E PR ES ID E NT, B U S I NES S D EV E LO PM E NT

Craig Perreault

G EN ERA L CO UNS E L & S .V. P. , HU MA N R ES O URCES

Todd Greene

V I C E P R ES ID E NT, CR EATIV E

Nelson Anderson

V I C E P R ES ID E NT, FINA NCE

Ken DelAlcazar

V I C E P R ES ID E NT, T V ENT ERTA INM E NT SA LES

Laura Lubrano

V I C E P R ES ID E NT, FILM

Carra Fenton

ACCOU N T EXECUTIV ES , FILM & TV

Brianna Hamburger Tiffany Windju

A D SA L ES CO O R D INATO RS

​Kristina Mazzeo Malik Simmons

P RODU CT I ON D IR ECTO R

Natalie Longman

A DV ERT I S I N G INQ UIR IES

Stacey Farish 310-484-2553 sfarish@pmc.com

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LAURIE METCALF’S PERFECT YEAR p. 10

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THE ART OF TITLES p. 12

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A GIRL EMERGES As Maisie Williams gets a long-overdue Emmy nod for playing Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, she looks to the future.

BY J O E U T I C H I

MAISIE WILLIAMS HAS EVERY

she says definitely, as she sits down

REASON TO BE CHEERY, even

after Deadline’s shoot at BAFTA’s

as she’s battling a cold. Her Emmy

London HQ. “Everything that’s hap-

nomination for playing Arya Stark

pened in my career so far has hap-

on HBO’s Game of Thrones is as long

pened really organically, and that’s

overdue as any acting recognition

the thing I’m going to take with me.

has ever been: how many actors can

But when the time is right, I know I’ll

claim to have taken a character from

be able, as an actor, to create a new

awkward little princess to dangerous

character and have the confidence

warrior in the space of just six ten-

to do that.”

episode seasons—and as part of a

If Williams has anything in com-

mammoth ensemble cast—without

mon with the girl she plays in Game

it ever feeling false or unjustified?

of Thrones, it is a kind of mature

Think of Arya, watching her father’s

confidence that belies her 19 years.

execution, helpless; serving the

It wasn’t always there, she says,

table of the man who architected

and she credits Nina Gold, who cast

that execution, incognito; making a

Thrones, with being able to recog-

list of sworn enemies she intended

nize how she might develop through

to kill, who were all bigger, stronger

her teenage years. “It worked out

and more powerful than she could

so amazingly. For nature to take its

ever hope to be; suffering the painful

course, and for that to really work

lessons of Jaqen H’ghar, resolved to

out well, is just what made the show

push back.

what it is.”

And think of Williams, too, whose

The Falling seems like an impor-

short list of credits (Game of Thrones

tant role for Williams in finding her

was her first acting gig, landed when

place. “It came at a time when I’d

she was 12) already demonstrates a

just left school and I’d lost quite a lot

range that teases the promise of a

of confidence. My body was totally

long, varied career. It’s impossible to

changing, I’d just got my first proper

find a trace of Arya in Carol Morley’s

boyfriend, and I was a very different

brilliant The Falling, in which Williams

girl then.” The shoot was tough, and

plays Lydia, an English schoolgirl in

Morley had gone “method” on her

the 1960s who gets caught up in a

actors, instructing the crew and her

fainting epidemic. Guest spots in

adult co-stars to treat the schoolgirl

Doctor Who and another British film

cast strictly like schoolgirls, result-

lead in Niall Heery’s Gold are similarly

ing in the “weird atmosphere” that

distinct. These roles have been side-

seems to permeate the piece. “I

bars against the complex production

felt like I was a young woman in the

demands of Thrones, but with only

industry, and for the first time I didn’t

two more—shortened—seasons of

need a chaperone, but then I was

the show ahead, what Maisie Wil-

getting told off for eating my lunch

liams does next seems certain to be

without a coat on,” she says. “I’d be

special.

stood there, like, ‘Why does everyone

“It needs to happen organically,”

hate me?’”

MAISIE WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHED FOR DEADLINE/AWARDSLINE

BY JAMES GOURLEY/REX SHUTTERSTOCK, AT BAFTA, 195 PICCADILLY, LONDON

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the show’s success with her colleagues and friends. Kit Harington and Peter Dinklage are also nominated, and in her own category she’s competing against castmates Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke. “I’m going to have my two girls there with me,” she says, insisting it’s no kind of competition. “We always have a nice time when we’re back together. It’s never really about who’s nominated and who isn’t, or who wins and who doesn’t.”

She admires another fellow nominee, Maggie Smith—who at this point, one suspects, must treat award nominations certificates like the rest of us treat junk mail—for the longevity and variety of her career, and can scarcely believe she’s been mentioned in the same breath. “To still be creating new characters, and to still be smashing it at her age… It’s very difficult to grow old gracefully in Hollywood, and I can only hope I get to do that. A career that’s so varied, and working with so many people, helping them to make their careers go better as they help you to make your career go better; that is what I would love to have.”

I tell Williams a story about interviewing Smith, and how she told me that in all her years on stage and screen she had never been bothered by members of the public until she started on Downton Abbey. Now,

THE MANY-FACED GIRL Williams’ Arya in Season 6 (main image) is a world removed from the precocious 12-year-old of Season 1 (bottom left).

In Carol Morley’s The Falling, Williams showed yet another side (bottom right).

they won’t leave her alone in their demands for autographs and pictures. Williams can relate. The fervor that surrounds Game of Thrones makes her life challenging at times,

It was only when she watched Morley’s debut feature that she understood the director’s approach.

and you’re on a different page to everyone else.”

It was her first experience, she

“I KEEP THINKING HOW FUNNY IT’D BE, IF SOMEONE SEES ME ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND READING GAME OF THRONES.”

and the press scrutiny has been intense. “But it’s not something that would ever impede what I want to do with my life,” she insists. “It’s just very

Dreams of a Life was a small British

says, “of working with a director who

documentary, which investigated the

will get what they want even if you

story of a young woman whose dead

don’t know that you’re giving it to

body lay in her North London bedsit,

them.” And despite the many mil-

undiscovered—and, apparently,

lions who watch Thrones, she feels

unloved—for three years. “I didn’t

it’s the film that launched her career.

time where I thought, ‘No, I don’t

see that film until the day after we

“I have everything to thank that film

want to act.’ But there was a time

wrapped, and all of a sudden I got

for, because creating new characters

when I was like, ‘I don’t want to be

it,” says Williams. “I wasn’t fighting

is more difficult than anyone ever

famous.’ It’s one aspect that I will say

Carol at all, because it was the first

lets you know.”

film I had done all on my own, but I

She’s rightly proud of landing her

current at the moment. I look exactly the same [as Arya] and I feel like my face is still going to change and I’m going to grow as a person.

“I don’t think there was ever a

is not cool; it’s just not me. People think being an actor and being

definitely did feel like, ‘Oh, this wasn’t

Emmy nomination for this landmark

famous come hand in hand, and that

what I thought.’ It just happens

season as Arya Stark, and is looking

if you don’t want to be famous you

sometimes, that you read a script

forward to a fine evening, celebrating

shouldn’t be an actor. But it’s like,

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who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do? I always enjoyed performing.”

She would always put her hand up for school plays, and loved being the center of attention, a contradiction she’s not oblivious to. “It’s when it’s almost demanded of you that you go, ‘Oh, I don’t want that, actually.’” But perhaps it makes sense of the lesson she learned on The Falling: disappearing into a character, as uncomfortable as it can be, seems to be where her love for acting resides.

Directing also fascinates her, for its craft as well as its promise of anonymity. “I watch directors all the time. When they say, ‘actors relax,’ and everyone goes off set, I just love sitting there and watching Mark Mylod, in particular, with his DP, P.J. Dillon, setting up the next shot.

He was the first DP to light me as a woman; everyone else lit me like a child. I just love listening to them, and watching them, and if the right project came along, I would want to direct. I really do think I’d enjoy it.”

And she still hasn’t read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga, on which Game of Thrones is based. “When I started, my mum deemed them inappropriate,” she laughs. “But also, at the time, I didn’t really understand the importance of that in my craft. I was a non-actor, never trained, and I never really had any passion for reading. I just was Arya when I was younger, and that’s kind of the way it worked out.”

Now, she’s reached the point in the show’s lifespan where it seems better to wait. So much has been tweaked and changed, and as of Season 6 the show is flying blind: Martin has yet to complete the books that will tell this side of the ongoing story. “I brought what I brought to Arya, and I’m thrilled with the character I’ve strangely created now. It would be amazing to go back and read them after the fact, and see exactly what she was supposed to be like.

“But I keep thinking how funny it’d be, if someone sees me on the London Underground reading Game of Thrones.” Get a Kindle? “Yeah! Then I can read whatever I like!” ★

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CHARTED TERRITORY

Gold Derby’s Emmy Odds At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Emmy chances in the Limited Series, TV Movie and Variety Talk races. Get up-to-date rankings and make your own predictions at GoldDerby.com

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES

A LOOK TO THE PAST SELF-CONFESSED THEATER GEEKS known

franchise—with their most recent effort, The Wiz

for their quest of every possible iteration of the

Live! scoring six Emmy nominations and Hair-

musical, from the Broadway stage to film and

spray Live! coming to the network on Decem-

television, producing partners Neil Meron and

ber 7—the pair have established themselves as

Craig Zadan did something remarkable in 2013,

pioneers of event television.

producing a live musical for NBC (The Sound of

The shows’ viewership stats and cultural

Music Live!) that scored 18.6 million viewers in

impact are no small accomplishments, in a time

its three-hour Thursday night run, ushering in a

when viewing patterns have shifted away from

new era of live TV musicals in the process.

the live broadcast. In response to the runaway

Admittedly, the pair weren’t reinventing the

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The People v. O.J. Simpson FX

1/3

2

Fargo FX

7/2

3

The Night Manager AMC

16/1

4

American Crime ABC

20/1

5

Roots History

40/1

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE

THE WIZ LIVE! EPS NEIL MERON AND CRAIG ZADAN CELEBRATE THE CONTINUED RISE OF A CULTURAL PHENOMENON— THE LIVE TV MUSICAL. BY MATT GROBAR

success of NBC’s musicals, other networks

wheel; their work was indebted to the live TV

have eagerly jumped into the fold. In January,

musicals of the 1950s, which emerged from the

Fox aired Grease: Live, to critical acclaim and a

very same network the producers now inhabit.

staggering 10 nominations. Witnessing the suc-

“We always look backwards in order to go

cess of Grease, the producers couldn’t be more

forward,” says Meron. Between their three-year

thrilled. “It shows that this really has impacted

stint as the producers of the Academy Awards

broadcasting in general,” Meron says. “So it’s a

and their now annually recurring NBC musical

great thing—a great thing for broadcast TV.”

ODDS

ODDS

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All The Way HBO

2/7

2

Confirmation HBO

4/1

3

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride / PBS

14/1

4

Luther BBC America

20/1

5

A Very Murray Christmas Netflix

50/1

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES

ODDS

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver / HBO

4/9

2

Late Late Show with James Corden / CBS

4/1

3

Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon / NBC

13/2

4

Jimmy Kimmel Live ABC

11/1

5

Real Time with Bill Maher HBO

33/1

SERIES-STEALER KNOWN FOR HER ROLE as Jackie Harris in the long-running ABC sitcom Roseanne, Laurie Metcalf has pulled off a hat trick in this year’s Emmys nominations, scoring a nod for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, as well as Outstanding Guest Actress noms in both comedic and dramatic categories.

As with Emmys staples Allison Janney and Sarah Paulson—carrying two noms each this year—Metcalf’s work demonstrates a rare versatility in

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the craft that transcends genre lines.

In Big Bang Theory, Metcalf portrays Mary Cooper, Sheldon’s quippy, bornagain Christian mother; Metcalf’s turn as an uptight, socially awkward director of medicine in HBO’s Getting On earned the actress her first lead actress nom. And then there’s Louis C.K.’s Horace and Pete, which offered the actress a series-stealing episode, in the form of one long, intensely vulnerable monologue.

Metcalf is no stranger to

accolades— particularly from the TV Academy, which has honored the actress with 3 Emmys for Roseanne and a total of 10 nominations. This year, Metcalf is up against an old Emmys rival—Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who lost repeatedly to Metcalf in her Seinfeld days, and is now favorite to collect her fifth consecutive trophy.

But with exceptional work this year all round, and her last win back in the ‘90s, this may well be the year of Laurie Metcalf. –M.G.

T H E WIZ L IVE ! : PAUL G I LM O R E/N B C

Taking three Emmy nominations for a versatile collection of roles, Laurie Metcalf can do no wrong.

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TM & © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Television. All Rights Reserved.

FOX TM & © 2016 Fox and its related entities. All Rights Reserved.

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OPENING FRAMES Why the Title Design race is as competitive as they come.

BY M AT T G RO BA R

a building around music exec Richie Finestra in Martin Scorsese’s pilot, the sequence builds to a point of destruction, as the walls cave in.

Despite a proven track record in collaboration with HBO—producing the title sequence for Terence Winter’s Boardwalk Empire—the team at Imaginary Forces fought hard to win over several titans of industry—namely, Winter, Scorsese, and

WHILE THE NOMINEES FOR MAIN TITLE DESIGN at the 2016 Emmys are strikingly diverse in theme and format, there is one consensus among those Creative Directors who find their firms and sequences nominated: the competition is stiffer than ever. “Title design is not a new thing, but it’s something that throughout the years, both television and film have embraced more and more,” says Alan Williams, the Creative Director behind Imaginary Forces’ Emmy-nominated sequence for HBO’s Vinyl. Undoubtedly, there’s a fatigue that sets in, as the immensely crowded television landscape continues to expand, and it becomes harder and harder to capture the imagination of a visually sophisticated audience.

This year’s five nominees come from three companies: Imaginary Forces, Elastic, and Digital Kitchen, firms that have been a force to contend with in the Emmys race for the last decade and continue to excite with an experimental vigor that is impossible to ignore. Let’s take a closer look.

STIMULATING SPIN VINYL

powder—cocaine—that vibrates in

legendary Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger—with their pitch.

For Williams and company, in viewing the Vinyl pilot there were a few ideas and themes that resonated strongly, in their effort in capture the dynamics of a complicated era. “We loved the idea of exploring music, and vibrations

visualized,” he explains. “It takes so

and dissonance, and the evolution

much off of us as artists, because we

that was happening in the music

literally just started playing different

scene,” Williams says. “You think of

frequencies, and suddenly it was as if

the Stones, and all of these different

the Grand Canyon was being formed,

bands during that decade, that were

or these crazy abstract formations.”

doing new, raw things. Coming up

These hands-on experiments lent

with a visual language for that was

themselves to the company’s overall

pretty exciting, and something we

approach to the sequence; with the

were ready to jump into.”

exception of one CG component,

“[Landing Vinyl] really, ultimately,

which captured the microscopic

strange formations, in concert with

came down to a bag of flour and

movement of the needle in the groove,

dissonant chords, and explodes

an iPhone,” Williams says. Through

the gritty sequence was produced

Spearheaded by Williams and Cre-

across the screen. Reminiscent

research, the Creative Director

through practical means. “My thought

ative Director Michelle Dougherty,

of the jarring, invigorating work of

landed on the work of scientist Hans

is, the show itself wasn’t a fantasti-

Vinyl’s titles are a raucous, in-your-

David Lynch, the sequence finds

Jenny, who experimented with visual

cal show—it wasn’t Game of Thrones.

face musical assault on the senses,

its manic rhythm alongside Sturgill

representations of sound during

So what I wanted to provide for this

setting the stage for the series’

Simpson’s “Sugar Daddy,” transition-

the 1970s. With speakers blasting,

was something that felt tangible,

exploration of the dynamic ’70s New

ing rapidly between shots of the

Williams successfully pursued his

something that felt tactile, in-camera,

York music scene. Commencing with

pulsating metropolis: the speeding

own experiment. “We would film this

cinematic,” Williams says. “What the

a stylus, moving forcefully through

subway, the crowd-surfing urbanite

powder actually moving, and it’s so

distortion pedal did to the guitar is

the grooves of a record, the black-

and the beat of the drum. Alluding

hypnotic—and almost psychedelic—

kind of what we were trying to do with

and-white sequence is laced with

to the evocative, surreal collapse of

the way that sound itself was being

the styling of the footage itself.”

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THROUGH WINDOWS JESSICA JONES

of the voyeur’s gaze. The brush strokes are prominent and gorgeous, striped across the screen in various

Another nominee from Imaginary

shades, as silhouetted figures stroll

Forces, with Creative Director

past, observed by unknown figures

Michelle Dougherty at the helm, the

in their Hell’s Kitchen apartments,

Jessica Jones title sequence came

and through car windows. The high-

about as a result of Dougherty’s prior

contrast sequence aptly establishes

collaborations with Marvel and series

the Jessica Jones world as a world

creator Melissa Rosenberg, and her

of shadows, though ever-present

great admiration of both.

windows cast vibrant beams of light,

Dougherty’s pitch for Jessica Jones stemmed from the title char-

bringing attention to every couple’s spat, and every minor detail of

acter’s status as both investigator

strangers’ lives. As Sean P. Callery’s

and voyeur. “I had grown up watching

jazzy, Emmy-nominated score builds

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window; like,

suddenly from a slow tempo of

I remember sitting on my parents’

mystery and intrigue to the menace

BLURRED LINES NARCOS

bed watching it on a Sunday after-

of pounding rock, and the screen is

noon, over and over, and it never got

flooded with windows, the sequence

Digital Kitchen’s title

old to me,” Dougherty says. “And I

lands on a window reflected in the

sequence for Netflix’s

thought the idea of piecing together

eye of the beholder: Jessica Jones.

original crime series Narcos

a story through small pieces of information was a fascinating thing.”

Part of the mission of any excep-

is the product of extensive

tional title sequence is to evoke a

historical research and

With several other artistic influences

strong sense of place, and the Jes-

immense perseverance.

in mind—including Edward Hopper’s

sica Jones animated sequence deliv-

In the gorgeously colored

Night Windows and the hazy, satu-

ers the feeling of a lived-in, three-

sequence, synced to the

rated paintings of Gerhard Richter—

dimensional world. “We shot a lot of

hypnotic, intoxicating mel-

Williams also worked closely with

paint—scraping away paint, moving

ody of Rodrigo Amarante’s

Alias comic designer David W. Mack,

paint around—and [the animators]

“Tuyo,” a spinning record

and lead designer Arisu Kashiwagi,

put those elements within a three-

blurs into a beautifully grid-

to translate Mack’s original vision to

dimensional program, and then

ded map of Colombia: that

the screen.

combined that with the live-action

of the DEA agents trying to

Of course, the central motif

elements and the stills,” Dougherty

track down one of history’s most infamous drug kingpins, Pablo Escobar.

of the painterly, visually-striking

explains. “We definitely built it in 3D

Cocaine—an apparently common theme this season—explodes into the

sequence is the window, the object

so you felt that sense of place.”

lens through open hands, against a background of inscrutable, aesthetically pleasing diagrams and handwritten documents. Featuring scenic aerial footage of Colombia and archival footage of Escobar, the sequence documents a time, a place, and a lifestyle familiar to any aficionado of the crime drama. The guns, the money, the drugs and the women.

Nik Kleverov, the editor and Director of Photography for the sequence, worked on the Narcos title design for the better part of a year—alongside a half-dozen other artists—meticulously investigating the two decades of Colombian history depicted in the series’ first season. “To me, what’s exciting is the Inside Baseball of it all,” Kleverov says. “It’s so fun to really delve into the world and just let it consume you; you go nuts, obsessing over the tiniest things.“ The research process for Narcos involved “a lot of scrubbing through archive.org,” as well as a look at the work of “El Chino”— the Escobar family’s personal photographer.

Perhaps the greatest challenges faced by the Narcos team were red tape and rights issues. “Obviously, there were some amazing things we found that there were some legal reasons that we couldn’t use. And clearing was a big part of [the process],” the editor shares. “Sometimes we had to wait a week or two before finding out about something—and then, Oh, OK, we didn’t get it; so we have to find another solution.” Ultimately, these creative limitations became part of the solution, contributing to the mystique of the series, as the seamless integration of archival footage and photographic re-creations blurred the lines between life and art.

“I think it’s a nice blend, because when you’re watching, you kind of don’t know—is that archival, or is that shot?” Kleverov says. “And it’s this nice blurred line where we’re setting the tone of this world.” ★

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Emmy has finally caught up with ​ The Americans. Its stars, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, break cover with Mike Fleming Jr.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK MANN Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys photographed for Deadline/AwardsLine at the Deer Mountain Inn, Tannersville, NY

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When The Americans stars

Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell arrived for Deadline’s shoot at a quaint upstate NY inn near where they were on holiday, they brought the latest member of their entourage. That would be Sam, a two-month-old who seems right out of central casting for cutest baby ever. In a fourth season of the Reagan era Cold War FX spy drama series that featured a dizzying amount of surprises on screen, the pending stork visit for Rhys and Russell’s first child together was one of two plot twists that surprised showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, who had to accelerate shooting to get the season in before Russell was due, hiding a pregnancy that was not worked into

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the plot line. The other surprise was that, after three seasons as a critical darling and a guilty pleasure, The Americans finally got love from the Television Academy, and reached that critical consensus that occasionally catapults an established show like Friday Night Lights. The Americans is up for five major Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series, one each for Rhys and Russell as lead actors, one for Outstanding Writing for Weisberg and Fields, and another for Margo Martindale, who last year won the show’s only Emmy in the Guest Actress category.

This fourth season was the show’s most eventful. The noose tightens for these characters. And in a parallel plot, the TV Academy has finally recognized a show that has been a guilty secret, and you are basking in Emmy nominations.

Matthew Rhys: I think they just succumbed to the pressure.

Keri Russell: The pressure of Solberg.

Rhys: John Solberg, head of FX publicity, also known as the enforcer. Our Ray Donovan.

What were the most satisfying moments during the season?

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ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in scenes from the show this season, with co-stars including Holly Taylor and Noah Emmerich.

Rhys: A highlight for me was the big argument that

on the conscience of these people and their

everything that was going on in communist Russia

happened in Episode 8, that was a long time coming

family. When you signed on, how much of this

then and just the heavy indoctrination. That

for Philip and Elizabeth. So much is quashed, and sat

evolution was mapped out and explained to

interested me, with that arrested development

on, and not addressed, and finally, in a world where

you by the show’s creators?

aspect thrown into this. And then I sat with Joe

so much isn’t said, they had an opportunity to really,

Russell: From the time I read the pilot, I feel

Weisberg over coffee and was, more than anything,

albeit briefly, let some things go; to air some truths.

like Elizabeth, that character, was almost in the

fascinated by him telling me his story about joining

Russell: It was such an old marriage fight, too. I

background. So I had no idea where this was going

the CIA. I was like, “Stop. Tell me everything. I want

don’t know what ended up making it in the edit, but

to go—zero idea—and had no idea how emotional

every detail about how you signed up.”

there were a few lines in there where we’re talking

it would become, which has been such a good

Rhys: The application process is incredible. It’s a

about people from the first season arena, and I

surprise about this job.

two-year vetting process, because they vet you. We

remember, in the midst of this vicious retort back

met a guy who did the [KGB] job, he came to set,

and forth, they’re like, “You have to say her name

Keri, everybody knew you as this America’s

and to talk with him was mind-blowing about why

because you have to [remind] people who she was.”

Sweetheart from Felicity. Did you want some-

he did it and what he went through, to a far less

It’s like, it doesn’t matter what her fucking name is.

thing where you could show a bit more edge?

degree than us. He was completely alone. There

They get the point. It’s like a wife yelling about...

Russell: I wasn’t even thinking of it like that. I

were no handlers. There were no Margo Martindales.

Rhys: Betrayal.

was intrigued by the spy element, but I was more

He was utterly alone in New York, working as an

Russell: Over something that happened years ago.

intrigued by the relationship; the idea of these two

illegal, pretending to be someone from New Jersey.

That was good because that’s the show, and it’s so

teenagers who were placed together. What would

He’d gone to Russia. He was in Moscow for six years

interesting to me when it’s just this great marriage

that be like, and what would it be like to watch that

being trained by a guy from New Jersey to speak like

show.

unravel. Living together, and having babies with

someone from New Jersey.

somebody, missing out on your whole childhood,

Russell: Isn’t that crazy?

When The Americans began there was plenty of

and then spending all these years with someone. I

standard James Bond spy stuff, but glimpsed

was more intrigued by that.

from the other side. Action, sex, suspense.

Was what he did as effective as what your characters do?

Somewhere along the way, that was overtaken

Like a bizarre arranged marriage?

Rhys: None of them were killing people. It was all

by this heavy toll that these betrayals take

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gathering was his mandate. And what he real-

So that’s why they said this was the best

ized was how the KGB knew nothing. Eventually,

season?

they put him in Canada for X amount of years to

Rhys: Yes. That’s what it’s about.

Americanize himself. Finally, he gets to New York, and he’s like, “OK, what’s the mission?” They went,

And when they tell you it will all be over in

“We want you to befriend the political professors at

another two seasons?

Columbia University, because they have strong links

Rhys: We’re like, “Well, these will be the best two.”

to Washington.” You can’t just turn over and say, “I want to be your friend.” You just think, “Oh my God.

The kids really flourished this season. Paige,

They didn’t know what they were doing.”

still trying to get used to the idea her parents are Russian spies, was very dramatic on the

When you ask a guy like that, what do they tell

surface. But Henry, who for a long time seemed

you about the extreme places your characters

to have his head buried in a video game, has

go to? Matthew, yours seduced a CIA officer’s

now bonded more with the FBI agent across the

secretary, followed by a phony marriage that

street than with his father. How do you see the

continued even when she realized she was

family dynamic and the way it developed here?

betraying her country...

Russell: I love the complication of the kids in the

Russell: They did that.

characters’ lives. I love that these two people are

Rhys: That was a very real operation the KGB

very capable in all these ways. They’re so trained.

set up. The KGB officers would marry low-level,

They’re kind of deadly. They’re smart and vicious at

intelligence-cleared personnel in the intelligence

times, but I love that they’re undone by a teenager,

world—the CIA and FBI—with some degree of suc-

like we all are. We’re all incensed and undone by the

cess. What they were most surprised by was, when

ungratefulness of a child, and I love that it matters

some of them found out who these men were, they

so greatly to them, in a way that it matters to every

stayed with them. They didn’t go, “Fuck you, you

parent. Teenagers are going to do that no matter

betrayed me, you liar.” They were in love with these

where you live or who you are. This is just an incred-

people, and they stayed with them.

ibly complex version of that story. Henry, the same.

Did they continue to get involved in these

he’s just kind of left there and is trying to find love

nefarious spying activities?

or acceptance from this neighbor. It’s heartbreaking

Rhys: I don’t know. We’ve taken liberties there.

that he’s finding this father figure next door.

“Keri and I are the same in that we see this as a show about a relationship; an exploration of marriage in a very heightened way.”

It’s heartbreaking, this alienation of him and how

The mere fact they stayed with them to me is mind-blowing.

Especially when the neighbor happens to be hunting these elusive KGB spies.

It would be hard to be in a marriage where your

Russell: Which is great.

job is to sleep with strangers and do all this crazy

Rhys: You know, when this guy came to the set, he

stuff, and then return to your arranged marriage.

said he had an FBI agent living next door to him.

Rhys: It is.

Russell: And he befriended him. Well, they moved him there because of that, right?

I don’t recall a relationship quite like this one

Rhys: It was a little bit different. The FBI agent had

on TV before.

this hunch about him, and persuaded the FBI to buy

Rhys: No, and that was a real worry. Keri and I are

the house next to him. The FBI signed off. They let

the same in that we see this as a show about a

him buy the house, and they surveilled him for years.

relationship; an exploration of marriage in a very

Russell: And they’re still friends, right?

heightened way. The normal marriage we have is

Rhys: He turned him.

more-or-less life or death than for these two, but then you are bringing this bizarre backstory. So land-

The FBI agent turned this guy?

ing that in a very real place is hard, because it just

Rhys: Yes.

makes everything that much more complicated. Yes,

Russell: Isn’t that crazy?

the themes we deal with are very easily relatable to marriage, but the baggage you bring as two people

What’s it like when you show up to work this

who lived a false life? Where does infidelity and

year and say, “We’re pregnant”?

betrayal live if there was never a real couple in the

Rhys: I was terrified when we told our showrunner.

first place? Where is that gray area where all those

Russell: We were terrified.

feelings live? That in itself is incredibly attractive as

Rhys: Because, God bless them, last year they

an actor, but landing it in a real place I thought would

promised they wouldn’t be handing us pages as we

be the challenge.

walked on set, and no more crazy midnight rewrites.

We’re going to get the whole arc locked before we

How long did it take you to feel comfortable

start Season 4. So it was like...

that you’d struck that balance?

Russell: Fuck.

Rhys: Four seasons.

Rhys: They tell us, “We have the whole thing locked.

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Done. We worked tirelessly over the summer.” And we’re like...

Russell: “Oh, shit.”

Rhys: “She’s pregnant.”

Rhys: They could’ve said, “OK, we’ll write it into the storyline,” but I think they just worked so hard over the summer. They’d given up their entire summer, all the writers. They went, “You know what, we’re going to stick with what we wrote, and I’m sorry to say, you’ll be wearing big coats and sitting holding laundry.”

Russell: There were definitely some tired nights, but it was all good, and it kind of speaks to how the show has evolved. Maybe in the beginning, there were a few more theatrics, action and sex, and it’s truly become a quieter relationship show. There was less choking dudes out in the public pool.

Rhys: Joe Weisberg has always maintained that’s his dream; that this is a show where people talk.

He goes, “If it was up to me, there’d be no guns and fights at all.” I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say that…

But FX are incredibly good about that. If they believe in the show and the ratings aren’t great, we’ve never been pressured by FX to do sex scenes or gunfights.

Matthew, you directed an episode, and it was one of the more complex ones that settled some storylines and set up others. Among other things, Elizabeth murdered the drugaddicted friend she recruited and whose life she ruined. And David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear. A lot happened.

Russell: It was our biggest episode of the season.

Rhys: Yeah, but there was a slight comedy of errors in that when we did tell them that Keri was pregnant, the hope was to kind of shunt everything forward and finish the season a little earlier. So we really hauled ass last season and as a result of that, the directors got shifted, and they had other commitments. So the whole directors’ schedule got moved, and I basically got an episode I shouldn’t have got.

Russell: Yes, you should’ve. You were great.

Rhys: I should’ve got a later episode that was much quieter, but director availability became nightmarish, and they took a hell of a risk. I got very lucky. I was incredibly mentored by Chris Long, our producing director. I had all the fireworks, you know? I had planes, and murders, and big fights, and kind of everything. Personally, a little too much.

How does that impact your attitude when you go back to acting only?

Rhys: In many ways. Now, if they say, “Go stand by the window,” I’m like, “Done.” Because I know inside, they’re just ripping their organs apart to make their day. Still, as an actor, it gets me when they puppeteer you. Do you know what I mean? But I found myself with actors thinking, “I’m so behind. You just go stand by the fucking window.” That’s the only thing you want to say.

Russell: Actors are inclined to say, “Why would I do that?”

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“I feel like we’ve had the best of all worlds.

We’ve been the underdog, but we’ve been written about nicely by critics.”

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Rhys: And you’re having to invent this motivation

Russell: And when my character has unleashed

to get them to the window. That is what takes the

on the Paige character, there’s been so much going

always be confused.” I said, “Yeah, you’re right.”

longest amount of time in your brain. So it’s hard. It

on, and I love that it’s really fueled by personal stuff.

Russell: I love Frank for doing that.

person. You’ve never met this person. You would

makes me act a little quicker because, in the edit,

The most recent one was in this episode where I

you’re always going, “Oh, why didn’t we just say it

had to yell at her about... who knows what it was

What does it feel like when you know you’re

faster? Now I have to cut away.” It’s a real double-

that time, but I feel like it was all spawned from the

doing great work, but you’re a guilty pleasure,

edged sword. So many actors should direct just to

jealousy and the resentment and everything going

and you watch other shows get the Emmy

go, “Oh my God, this is horrific.”

on with Philip and Elizabeth and what she was sup-

love—and then suddenly, it’s your turn, and

posed to be doing. But I felt like it was a real parent

everyone’s binge-watching to catch up on

Each of your characters have gotten into

moment as well.

situations that make you wince. There was

earlier seasons? How cognizant are you of that?

Philip’s seductive relationship with the CIA

You would never know what this young

Russell: I feel like we’ve had the best of all worlds.

guy’s underage daughter, Kimmy, and Eliza-

actress is capable of until you test her.

We’ve been the underdog, but we’ve been written

beth’s fake seduction of her only friend’s

Russell: Right. There’s another thing I want to

about nicely by critics. It’s the ideal place to be,

husband, and then the whole pregnancy and

say about the Paige recruitment, and Tommy

because you get to do your work and you’re not

suicide ruse, just to get computer codes.

Schlamme, one of our directors who I love so

overly famous.

Since you live in the skin of these characters,

much. There was a scene which, on paper, sort of

Rhys: You’re not in the spotlight or under a

have you ever told the producers they’ve

read a certain way, and he had such a good note

magnifying glass.

crossed a line and you aren’t comfortable?

about it. It was my problem with the recruitment

Russell: And the people who really enjoy that kind

Rhys: Yeah. When it comes to acting, I’m ardent

issue. He says, “Yeah, but it’s about her knowing

of stuff really enjoy it and write great things. We’re

that you don’t judge. But I did have a problem with

who you are.” She doesn’t know anything about

always going, “They know the show better than

the Kimmy thing. It is great drama because what

[the fact] that we’re Russian, or our heritage, or

us.” And we say, “Oh… so that’s what the show’s

you’re ultimately striving to do is create conflict,

truly who we are, and you want to be seen [incor-

about.”

and the conflict within him as a man who has a

rectly] by these people that love you. You want

Rhys: It’s true. They see nuance in it.

daughter the same age is a great form of conflict.

them to truly see who you are. So, in a way, it’s less

It ties into his motivation. He has to be the best

about her becoming a spy, and more like, “This is

Well, now, those producers have basically said

agent he can be in order to keep his family alive.

who I am. I want you to know who you are versus

they kind of know how it’s going to end.

And if that means the seduction of a girl the same

this lie of a person.”

Russell: They’ve always said that.

age as his daughter, then what it creates is an inner conflict that’s fantastic to play. But as a human

All this unraveling of the story, it is still so interesting to me, and that’s a good thing.

Do you know? And how would that knowledge inform how you play the scenes?

being, I went to them, and I said, “I’m struggling with this.” They were very open, and they had a lot

It is better than some series where the original

Russell: We don’t know.

of valid points as to why it’d make good televi-

showrunners go do something else, and the

Rhys: They’re very open and always have been at

sion. It became a hot talking point. They got a lot

episodes feel the same, and it’s like you’re

the beginning of a season about what will happen,

of people talking about this incredibly difficult

playing out the string until the ratings get low

and I think they’re shrewd in not telling us what the

subject.

enough to cancel it. You guys are still on an

long term is, so we’re not playing toward some-

Russell: I was just thinking, is there anything that I

emotional trajectory.

thing that hasn’t happened yet.

ever talked to them about, and my thing would be

Rhys: Yes, and there’s still some evolution for us all.

about Paige, and turning her.

We’ve all got so far to go, which is great.

Yeah, that was tough, too; indoctrinating a

Yeah, and next season you’ve got an illegiti-

Russell: Totally. We have our own dream

teen daughter into becoming a future KGB spy.

mate son who’ll come looking for his father.

scenarios.

Russell: We both were worried about these young

Rhys: I totally forgot about him until this moment.

Rhys: Mine is Elizabeth, being sworn in as the

So it’s up to you to play out scenarios in your minds?

girls, which I think is exactly what they were trying

President of the United States. And then it’s, “Oh,

to create. You wanted to be worried for Kimmy

You forgot your son? You are so focused on

no, we can’t, we’re factual.” We wake up and Paige

and in some way for Philip having to do it, and you

your actual newborn son that you aren’t

is being sworn in.

wanted to be worried for Paige. That was what

thinking about your pretend illegitimate son

Russell: I don’t think Elizabeth would want it.

they were trying to show, and even in their discus-

that your character didn’t even know he had?

Rhys: I know what it’ll be. The last episode, Paige

sion when I said, “Am I setting my daughter up to

Rhys: I had this moment when I was directing

changes her name to Hillary Clinton.

have her turning tricks?” They were like, “No, no,”

Gabriel, Frank Langella’s character, in a bar. He tells

but they really broke it down, in the way that a 16-

me that my illegitimate son is alive and well, and

Or you change yours to Donald Trump.

or 18-year-old wouldn’t go that way; that what they

because I was directing it, I kind of did that with

Rhys: Oh, yeah, that’ll be good.

do is so highly specialized and she would be going

Frank.

Russell: Oh my God. Camaro-driving,

in to work for the cause as a paper pusher. That’s

Russell: What are you talking about?

cowboy-boot-wearing.

the ultimate goal, to get her to the highest level to

Rhys: I was like, “What would my reaction be to

Rhys: Or, Paige changes her name to Monica

work for a senator or something.

that?” And bless him, he was like [does his best

Lewinski.

Langella impression], “Well, you know, you’d realize It’s a tough role for Holly Taylor to play. Her

you’ve got no relationship with this person.”

That sounds like an FX spinoff.

decision to confide to her pastor that her

Russell: Oh my God, I love it. I love it.

Rhys: That would be good. Is the age right for

parents are Soviet spies brings unimaginable

Rhys: “It’s an abstract thought. So you don’t have

that? It’s not far off.

stress.

to be sad or cry because you don’t know this

Russell: Can we fudge it a bit? ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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D THE DIALOGUE

EMMY NOMINEES 2016

Interviews by Antonia Blyth, Matt Grobar, Pete Hammond, Ross Lincoln, Dominic Patten, Nancy Tartaglione & Joe Utichi

MICHAEL K EL LY

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series House of Cards What do you think makes Doug tick?

Addiction. I mean, at his core, he is a guy who just battles massive addiction. He was addicted to Rachel. He was addicted to Frank. He’s addicted to the job.

Everything for him is 100 percent.

You know, he doesn’t half-ass anything.

With Frank’s health possibly worsening, how would you feel about radical changes like that in the show?

I don’t know, because I feel like there have always been radical changes in this show. As we’ve gone along, you know, crazy shit happens all the time. Almost the entirety of Season 3 was about these characters failing, because Beau Willimon, I remember him saying to me, “Look, I can have you and Francis twirling your mustaches forever and destroying everything in your wake. People love it. But I want to challenge myself. I want to see what happens when these people fail.” I feel like any big changes that have happened on the show, it’s always wellwarranted or well-deserved, that the audience will get it. They might have to wait longer than on your typical TV show, but they will bring you back. —A.B. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

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TATIANA MASLANY

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Orphan Black Science fiction isn’t an awards favorite. What does this second nomination mean to the show?

We’re really lucky to get this recognition because I do think there’s a stigma around science fiction.

But so many shows that are science fiction speak about the world in a way that’s really subversive, and I think that TV is changing in general; that the stigma about television is changing. It’s really open to more complicated storytelling.

How long did it take to get a handle on playing multiple characters?

I still feel there are days when I get to set where I’m like, “I don’t know who this character is,” especially if I’ve been playing someone else for a week. If I’m with Sarah for a week, switching into Alison is always a bit of a shock. Or playing Cosima and then I change into Helena. I think my body has started to understand the shorthand, but it is also a degree of trusting that they’re in my body at this point, so to speak. —R.L. PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOSH TELLES

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K E R RY WASH I N GT O N

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Confirmation Did you meet with Anita Hill?

I did meet with her. I really studied every press conference and TV interview in the hearings themselves because I wanted to find her rhythm and her cadence through the truth of who she was, and we have that on film because who she was in ’91 is obviously different from who she is today. But I also had to figure out where I could enter into the truth of her from my own experience and my own understanding.

I had to figure out what I could bring of myself into her experience so that I could bring some emotional truth to what she was going through.

It’s D.C. set, just like Scandal. How did it contrast with that show?

I have spent five years playing somebody who, for the most part, is always the smartest, most powerful person with the most access in every room she’s in. And I think I was drawn to the idea of working within that same environment—that same context—but playing somebody at the complete opposite end of the spectrum; somebody who has no power, access or authority in that setting, and who still has to find the courage to step forward. —P.H. PHOTOGRAPH BY E R I C S C H WA B E L

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THOMAS M I D D L ED I T C H

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Silicon Valley

This year marks not only your first Emmy nomination, but also the first recognition by the TV Academy of the actors in Silicon Valley. What does this mean to you?

You’re talking to a very cynical person, who thinks awards are a little bit silly. But it’s like, they’re silly until your name is called— and then you’re like, “Oh, they’re pretty cool.” So it’s certainly nice.

I’m just happy for the show. It lets us know that, at least in some people’s’ minds, we’re doing it right.

What are your hopes for your character going forward?

You’re always looking for that moment where he actually becomes a badass, and wins— actually successfully does it. I don’t think this story is about how Richard Hendricks “breaks bad”. There have been these moments where it looks like he’s going to nut up and kick some ass—and he kind of fumbles. He is actually a very talented coder; he is something. It’s possible for him to get a victory. I also think failure is funnier, so as much as I’d like to see him get propped up, I’d equally like to see him fall on his face. —M.G. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

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JA M E S CO R D EN

Outstanding Variety Talk Series The Late Late Show with James Corden With just a year and a half as a talk show host under your belt, did the Emmy nomination feel like validation?

It’s thrilling, isn’t it? I was so prepared for disappointment because, historically, I think it’s always been a show that’s been overlooked. We’re in our infancy as a show, so to be rewarded in such a fashion is just so far past what I thought. The restrictions of our budget and our time slot mean we have to take our swings at such delicate moments, and we have to try our best at every point.

What’s great is to be making a show like this where the internet is around. The cream will just rise to the top.

Is it good to know that your Carpool Karaoke segments have been a huge boon, not only for your show, but also for the careers of the talent involved?

Yeah! The track that the First Lady was on, to promote the “Let Girls Learn” [initiative], I think jumped 80 places in the iTunes chart the next day. That’s wonderful! It’s great that people would watch our segment and go, “Oh, I’d like to hear more of that.” —M.G. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

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JULIA L OU IS - D R EY F US

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Veep Veep began before the current news cycle was overrun by a U.S. presidential election that has seemingly gone off the rails. Is the real world catching up to it?

God, I hope not. It does seem everything that’s happening in the current political climate here in the States is a bit too broad for our show. And I’m just flabbergasted.

The characters on Veep have shown some growth over the past few seasons; think, the backstory that emerged about Selina and her mother, ever so subtly, this past season. Is it necessary to keep those characters moving?

[Selina could evolve] maybe in centimeters, but that’s about it.

I think that part of the fact of her being a kind of stunted person, emotionally, is at the comedy core of the show. So I think if Selina were to go into deep, deep therapy and have some sort of revelation, I don’t think that would be good for the comedy of the show. Unless the revelation is completely off-base, which might actually be good for the show.

—N.T. PHOTOGRAPH BY GABRIEL GOLDBERG

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CUBA GOODING JR.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

You turned down playing O.J. Simpson in the past. Why this project?

When I’d heard Ryan [Murphy] was going to do this, I know his attention to detail as a storyteller and I knew he would be like an investigative reporter about it all. We didn’t have the constraints a normal trial would have, in terms of admissible and inadmissible evidence. We have the opportunity to reach in and pull a little bit of everything about it. It really became an interesting endeavor.

Why do you think people are re-examining this trial now?

There’s absolutely no coincidence that this timely story had come to a head in terms of social consciousness in America.

Not just America either. People are starting to question authority, whereas before they just accepted the fact that it was easier to govern a people with fear. Now that you have people questioning it, we’re starting to look back and hopefully learning from the mistakes we made in the past. The O.J. trial was the first celebrated reality show extravaganza of its era. Out of that was born a lot of different facets of celebrity that are still dissected today, from the Kardashians to Judge Judy and all of these shows. —J.U. PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH TELLES

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B O B O D EN K I R K J O N AT H A N BA N KS

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Better Call Saul People have loved Better Call Saul. How rewarding is it that the Breaking Bad audience has followed?

Odenkirk: Breaking Bad ended before people were done with it. That was a big boost for us. If that show had gone three more seasons, and then we tried to do Better Call Saul, there would have been nowhere near as much goodwill and hunger for more. They created a show that, from the start, felt bold and unique and surprising. It wasn’t playing into your expectations, and that’s a big thing. It didn’t feel any responsibility to Breaking Bad; they just let it be what it was, and they’re finding what that is all the time.

Albuquerque has become synonymous with this universe.

Why do these stories fit so well there?

Banks: There’s a real underbelly of the drug trade. A couple of retired police officers I talked to said that when Castro emptied out his prisons, and they all landed in Miami, the Catholics sent a bus for them and brought them to Albuquerque. Put them to work in the Octopus Car Wash for a month, got them a room.

They had taken over the drug trade in 60 days, and I mean brutally. —J.U. P H O T O G RA P H BY DA N D OPE RA L SK I

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TOM H I D D L EST O N

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie The Night Manager

The show brilliantly updates John le Carré’s novel and opens amid the Arab Spring. Why was that important?

The center of the novel is arms dealing. It was happening in the early ’90s, and of course it’s happening now. In order for the show to have the same impact as the book, it had to speak to our political climate now; updated and wedded to the world we live in.

You have a fine line to walk between hero and villain. Your character, Pine, becomes the man the dangerous Roper (Hugh Laurie) would want to work with.

It’s something that Burr (Olivia Colman) encourages in the scene in the hotel room in London in Episode 2, when she says, ‘You have to be believable and credible as the second worst man in the world; first place is already taken.’ Pine takes that to heart. His commitment to the dark side is what actually gives him the space to be heroic because the only way to bring Roper down is to get close to him.

He’s the most method actor of all method actors and his performance is immaculate in the process. —D.P. PHOTOGRAPH BY GABRIEL GOLDBERG

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M O RG A N F R EEM A N

Outstanding Informational Series or Special The Story of God with Morgan Freeman Was there a moment that was particularly uplifting or even frightening in making The Story of God? Not frightening at all, but there were a number of times when I felt totally involved with where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing. Oddly enough, I went to Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston and I was so impressed with him. I mean, this guy’s got something to say, and what he’s telling you is always the truth.

He was saying, “Listen, don’t sabotage your chance at success by getting up and saying, ‘I’m not going to be able to do what I want to do today, I’m not going to be able to get this job, I’m not going to be able to make this swing, I’m not going to be able to…’” He says that’s wrong. “Don’t do that. God has given you all the tools you need to succeed, all you have to do is make up your mind that you’re going to.” I said, “That’s true.” I liked him.

Looking back over your career so far, is there anything you would’ve done differently?

Heavens, no. What would I have done differently? If I’d done anything differently, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you. —A.B. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

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EM M Y H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Now that Jon Hamm and Bryan Cranston are out of the way, and the AMC dominant shows Mad Men and Breaking Bad are off the air, the Lead Actor in a Drama Series race is a wide open affair with no obvious favorite. This could finally be the year twotime Oscar winner Kevin Spacey finally grabs the gold for his indelible Frank Underwood on House of Cards.

The competition is relatively new, with Bloodline’s Kyle Chandler, Ray Donovan’s Liev Schreiber, and Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk in just their second year competing, joined by first-timers Rami Malek of Mr. Robot, and Matthew Rhys of The Americans.

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Kyle Chandler

Rami Malek

With his fifth overall Emmy nomination including his second consecutive nod for this Netflix series, Chandler is the only one of the six nominees to have previously snagged an Emmy in this category—in 2011, for Friday Night Lights. His role as John Rayburn in the increasingly popular show gives him a good shot of getting a statuette, as he is clearly popular with his fellow actors.

If there is a breakout success this season, it has definitely been this first season USA series, which also earned Malek’s Elliot Alderson, a cyber security employee by day and hacker by night, a Golden Globe nomination and a win from the Critics Choice Awards. He’s the hot new kid on the block, and the fact that his show also made the grade in the drama series category in its first time out gives him a decent shot.

Bloodline Netflix

Mr. Robot USA

Bob Odenkirk

Matthew Rhys

Liev Schreiber

Kevin Spacey

This is Odenkirk’s second consecutive nomination in two tries for this Breaking Bad spinoff, in which he once again plays shyster lawyer Saul Goodman—aka Slippin’ Jimmy McGill—in the prequel to the smash multiple-Emmy winning show. Ironically, Odenkirk was never nominated with the Bad gang, and seems way overdue to finally grab a win for this iconic character, who carries on now as the lead of his own show.

There was a collective cry from fans and critics when Rhys finally won his first Emmy Nomination for this acclaimed but oddly Emmy-less show, which managed to run three seasons without a nod for Drama Series or its two leads. This year, that has been remedied, and Rhys— as a Soviet Intelligence agent posing as an American family man—has his shot at last. Will Emmy voters be ashamed it took this long and make it up with a win?

Schreiber is back in the running for the second year in a row, but actually, it’s surprising it isn’t the third year in a row, as the actor was overlooked for the first season of this tough Showtime drama that provides a great showcase for the ever-reliable star. With his character’s name firmly doubling as the title of the series, Donovan is an overpowering and complex role that shouts Emmy.

It’s hard to believe, but this Tony and twotime Oscar winner has been nominated now nine times, and has never won an Emmy— so the odds that he can finally take it home for his iconic Francis Underwood in this very political election year are better than ever, especially now that some of the perennial and tougher competition is no longer competing. He has been nominated for this role in each of its first four seasons, so if he doesn’t win now, he may never win.

Better Call Saul AMC

★

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

The Americans FX

Ray Donovan Showtime

House of Cards Netflix

Jonathan Banks was great as Mike in Breaking Bad, but never really got the Emmy recognition he deserved; and now he has, with a second consecutive nomination for Better Call Saul.

Last year’s winner, Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones, might be less of a threat for his fellow nominees, as he has to compete for the first time with Kit Harington’s iconic Jon Snow. That pair could cancel themselves out. Michael Kelly is ever reliable and could benefit, like his House of Cards co-stars, from the Emmys falling right in the heart of a heated presidential race, giving impetus to his show.

Ben Mendelsohn is simply superb as Danny Rayburn in Bloodline, but will voters watch it in the numbers he needs to stand out?

Then there is veteran Jon Voight, returning to the nominees circle as Ray Donovan’s father after being absent last year. This is as solid a group of actor-actors as the category has seen in some time.

THE WINNER: Mendelsohn deserves it, but Peter Dinklage will likely – again – ride in on the Game of Thrones gravy train.

P E T E ’ S P I C K : TO U G H C A L L , B U T TOSS A CO I N . M I N E C A M E U P B O B O D E N K I R K .

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Last year’s Lead Actress in a Drama Series winner Viola Davis is back for a second go-round, nominated opposite category regulars Claire Danes, Taraji P. Henson, Tatiana Maslany and Robin Wright, making this year’s lineup look like a carbon copy­—with one welcome addition. In her fourth year of eligibility, The Americans’ Keri Russell finally gets to join the crowd. Could she be a spoiler, or will we be seeing a more familiar outcome?

Claire Danes

Viola Davis

Definitely the mainstay of this category, Danes has won for this show in 2012 and 2013— Homeland’s first two seasons—as well as being a nominee now every year of its five seasons on Showtime.

She’s no stranger to the Emmy stage, having also won in 2010 for her TV movie Temple Grandin. It’s a tough act, though, to come to the winners’ circle for Carrie Mathison when she couldn’t break through in the past three years. It has been done, but not often. She’s an Emmy favorite either way.

Davis became the first African-American actress ever to win in this category when she took home the gold on her first try last season. The show doesn’t have the same buzz it did when it premiered, and that could hold her back from repeating, although Annalise Keating is a strong role on her own and certainly deserving of more recognition.

And Emmy voters like repeat winners. Just ask Claire Danes.

Homeland Showtime

How To Get Away With Murder / ABC

Taraji P. Henson

Tatiana Maslany

Keri Russell

Robin Wright

Cookie Lyon could not be denied last year; even if it was the hottest new show on TV, Empire was virtually ignored by the TV Academy. Henson delivers an over-thetop character with sublime style and, while once again virtually ignoring her series, Emmy voters are showing the love with a second consecutive nomination. The show, still a big hit, isn’t nearly the watercooler item it was last year, though, and that could hurt Henson’s chances of hitting the podium.

Perhaps the most critically acclaimed performance on TV the last few seasons was the master of disguise work Maslany displays in bringing six vividly different women to life in this BBC America show.

Critics kept shouting her praises, and finally, the Academy took notice last season, and now again this year, where I maintain she has a real shot to win this thing on her sophomore try—certainly if voters do their homework and actually watch her show.

Like her co-star Matthew Rhys, Russell was curiously overlooked for much of this acclaimed show’s run on FX. Finally, this year, voters were shamed into watching. Once they did, they could see what all the praise has been about, not only for the show, but also for Russell, who is a terrifically underrated actress.

As Elizabeth Jennings, who isn’t exactly who she says she is, Russell has deserved this recognition for a while, and it may be enough that she finally got it just when fans thought all was lost.

Like Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright has pulled a nomination in this category for every single year of the series, and she only gets better, playing the complex and intriguing Claire Underwood. A Golden Globe winner for the show, she is looking to advance to the Emmy stage—and just possibly could this time—if voters feel the timeliness of her show is more than enough reason to binge, and discover an actress who is way overdue.

Empire Fox

★

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Orphan Black BBC America

The Americans FX

House of Cards Netflix

With a trio of contenders from Game of Thrones battling for the hearts and minds of Emmy voters, it seems logical that Emilia Clarke as Daenerys, Lena Headey as Cersei, and Maisie Williams (who is new to the category this year) as Arya will cancel themselves out. I expect that to be the case, leaving Maura Tierney’s exemplary work in The Affair, newbie Constance Zimmer in the cult fave UnREAL, and veteran Maggie Smith carrying the acting torch for Downton Abbey’s final season to duke it out for the win. Of course, it is plausible that one of the Thrones trio could emerge victorious, but odds are against that happening. A new show like UnREAL has the advantage of being fresh blood, and those screeners were the first to arrive this season. However Zimmer’s was the only acting nomination the acclaimed series got, so odds are also long for her. It is time The Affair got some sort of recognition, and Tierney is well-liked— and never an Emmy winner—so there could be some affection there. However, Smith, a three-time Emmy winner, is formidable and could benefit from sentimentality over the end of the enormously popular series.

THE WINNER: Maggie Smith. She got the last word in Downton Abbey, and will get the last word at the Emmys, too.

P E T E ’ S P I C K : V I O L A D AV I S — E S P E C I A L LY I F V O T E R S WA N T T O H E A R A N O T H E R G R E AT A C C E P TA N C E S P E E C H .

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EM M Y H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES Cable and streaming shows continue to make strides in the comedy categories, which have been the one bright area for the traditional broadcast networks when it comes to the Emmy competition. It’s not particularly impressive for the broadcasters, but at least they haven’t been wiped out. For the male comedy stars, returnees Anthony Anderson of ABC’s Black-ish and Will Forte from Fox’s The Last Man on Earth are hoping that being on one of the big four doesn’t hurt their hip factor when it comes to voters who seem to hold edgier shows and their stars in higher regard. Here’s how I see this race going.

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Anthony Anderson

Aziz Ansari

Bucking the trend against network shows, Anderson made this category on his first time out last season as the sole nominee from ABC’s Black-ish. This time he might have a leg up thanks to the increased presence of his show in other categories including Comedy Series. The fact that his series also has important things to say mixed in with the laughs won’t hurt his chances here, and clearly the show is trending upward in its second season.

He’s the one to watch.

A triple threat in the Emmys this year, Ansari lands his first nomination for Season 1 of his very personal Netflix show, which also brought him additional nods in the writing and directing categories, a rare trifecta for a star in this category and one that should not be underestimated. With earlier Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, Ansari was able to break through where other new shows haven’t, and the deep pockets of Netflix should help him campaign-wise.

Black-ish ABC

Master of None Netflix

Will Forte

William H. Macy

Thomas Middleditch

Jeffrey Tambor

Willing to do just about anything in his role as Phil Miller—including wearing an outrageous hair style—Forte grabs his second consecutive nod for Lead Actor; but unlike in the show’s first season, he did not also receive recognition for his writing.

Nevertheless, the Fox series seems to be gaining a dedicated—if not blockbuster—following, and Forte has been charming voters on the campaign trail which is always a good trait in a crowded field.

The series found its groove in Season 2, which could help.

Remaining the one bright light at the Emmys for Shameless, this is veteran actor Macy’s third consecutive nomination for the series since it switched from drama categories to comedy.

Unfortunately voters only seem to like him, as the innovative show never seems to gain much more traction than this one category. It doesn’t hurt that Macy is widely admired by fellow actors and this is his 12th Emmy nod overall, with two previous wins (both for the TV movie Door to Door in 2003).

Now consistently one of Emmy’s favorites, Silicon Valley has garnered 11 nominations in its third season, but surprisingly Middleditch is the only actor from the great cast to make the grade. This is his first appearance in the Lead Actor category and first Emmy nod ever as Richard, the complicated center of HBO’s strong comedy stalwart. Could the fact he is the only cast member to be recognized help him in the end with actors branch members who have only Middleditch on their ballot?

In Transparent’s first season, Tambor took this prize after the veteran star had gone zero-for-six for his previous series. But in Maura Pfefferman, the transgendered matriarch of a dysfunctional family, Tambor has found his meal ticket to the Emmys with the perfect match of role and actor. The series has received 10 nominations in its second season which means a lot of love for the Amazon staple, and Tambor has enormous goodwill in the industry.

The Last Man on Earth Fox

★

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Shameless Showtime

Silicon Valley HBO

Transparent Amazon

In a category where there are a lot of familiar names, the one standout could be Louie Anderson and his startling gender-bending turn as Christine Baskets in FX’s oddly compelling comedy Baskets. He is returning to public consciousness in the role and could be the breath of fresh air the category is seeking. Two-time winner Tony Hale is the reigning champ from Veep, but he faces competition this time from castmate Matt Walsh in a crowded field of seven contenders.

Andre Braugher, a veteran Emmy winner, has a shot again with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but that show is losing momentum, it seems.

The over-the-top Tituss Burgess is back again for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but if he didn’t win last year, does he stand much a chance this time around against similar competition? Ty Burrell, a multiple winner here in the past, is the sole acting nominee in the supporting categories for longin-the-tooth Modern Family. That leaves Keegan-Michael Key as various characters in the final season of Key and Peele, and he could have a good parting shot of a chance if voters watch their screeners.

THE WINNER: Louie Anderson. An irresistible choice.

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lily Tomlin and Amy Schumer are back in the hunt, but Emmy voters have brought in some new blood this time around including both Ellie Kemper of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Tracee Ellis Ross of Black-ish, who somehow inexplicably were overlooked in their first season, while number two proved the charm. Add to the fold a three-time Emmy winner in Laurie Metcalf, appearing here for the first time with a surprise nod for Getting On, and you have a vibrant race, where the goal will be to turf out the President, as Louis-Dreyfus goes for a record-tying five wins in a row.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Ellie Kemper

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

It was surprising last year, in its first crack at the Emmys, that Kemper was left out of this category, despite the fact that the show she stars in received seven nominations. This was something that had to be rectified in the show’s second season, and voters have done just that by giving Kemper her first ever Emmy nod, even if the series itself received just four nods this time around. Kemper’s bright presence on the show is the anchor that keeps it afloat, and Netflix is going to spend big to remind voters of that fact.

When you are on a roll, you are on a roll.

With 21 nominations overall, and seven wins, including one for every year of Veep’s existence, there is no reason to believe this enormously popular TV star can’t make it a record-equalling five in a row, especially in an election year in which a woman has become a major party’s presidential nominee. The show itself has by far the most overall nominations in the comedy category. So it looks like, once again, LouisDreyfus is the incumbent with the edge.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt / Netflix

Veep HBO

This is a very strong field overall, but the elephant in the room is Allison Janney, winner here for the previous two seasons in Mom— and likely to be the one to beat again, as the TV Academy just can’t get enough of her. With seven previous wins overall, if she wins again, she will tie Cloris Leachman as the most honored actress in Emmys history. Veep’s Anna Chlumsky is deserving, but she has lost three times previously.

Transparent’s Gaby Hoffmann is good in a complicated role and is back again this year.

Niecy Nash should be happy with her Getting On nomination, but the real competition for Janney comes on two fronts: Transparent’s Judith Light is equally popular and a veteran, and SNL’s Kate McKinnon steals that show weekly.

THE WINNER: Allison Janney making history.

Laurie Metcalf

Tracee Ellis Ross

Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin

Though Louis-Dreyfus is formidable, Metcalf is the story here.

A three-time Emmy winner in the ’90s for Supporting Actress in Roseanne, Metcalf has since received several nominations for various series in the Guest Actress category, including an incredible two more this year in both Comedy for The Big Bang Theory and Drama for Horace And Pete. Her third nod this year represents her first Lead Emmy nod ever, and the triple play that puts her back in the hunt for the first time in nearly a decade.

Overlooked in the first season of Black-ish, even though co-star Anthony Anderson made the grade, voters have made sure this solid rock would not be passed over again, and so she now has her first ever Emmy nomination. She can definitely compete, as she has made Rainbow Johnson every bit an equal in the series, going toe-to-toe with Anderson every week. If voters want a change, they might want to look here.

Schumer landed a remarkable four nominations this year, including a repeat visit, despite the fact that the show that takes her name is not in the Comedy Series category, but rather Variety Sketch Series, where it won last year.

Schumer has a distinct advantage as the only nominee here not in a more traditional kind of role, and she really gets to show multiple sides to her talent. It didn’t make a difference last year, though, and there are other categories voters know they can honor her in.

It seems Tomlin can get an Emmy nomination just for showing up. She has 23 nominations with six wins, and this is her second consecutive year in this category. If there were any justice, her co-star in the Netflix series, Jane Fonda, would be nominated right here with her.

But Tomlin has the magic touch as the happyish Frankie, and Emmy voters just can’t get enough of her. Is it enough to win, especially with Netflix splitting their votes between her and Kemper?

Getting On HBO

★

Black-ish ABC

Inside Amy Schumer Comedy Central

Grace and Frankie Netflix

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EM M Y H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE If there is one word to describe the competition in the Lead Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie category this year it would be “fierce”. With past winner Benedict Cumberbatch and three-time nominee Idris Elba back in the hunt, in the all-too-familiar staples Sherlock and Luther respectively, the race also has lots of impressive fresh blood in the form of Bryan Cranston’s much lauded LBJ in All the Way, rising superstar Tom Hiddleston in John le Carré’s The Night Manager, and a compelling pair in Cuba Gooding Jr. and Courtney B. Vance from The People v. O.J. Simpson. It’s on.

Idris Elba

Cuba Gooding Jr.

This is the fourth nomination in six years for the ever-popular Elba’s turn as DCI John Luther. The gritty series has brought him much acclaim, so it is no wonder he keeps returning to it. Elba has already won Golden Globe, Critics Choice, Image and SAG Awards, among others, for his efforts in the show that debuted in 2010, and his growing popularity might mean he is finally ready to add an Emmy to that list.

Playing the iconic role of O.J. Simpson might have been a doubleedged sword, but Oscar winner Gooding Jr. managed somehow to put a human face on a person many regard as a monster.

Emmy voters may want to reward him just for taking on the nearly impossible task of even playing Simpson in a story we know all too well, having watched it in real time when it all happened.

Luther BBC America

★ 36

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story / FX

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Bryan Cranston All the Way HBO

Re-creating his astounding, dead-on, Tony-winning turn as President Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO’s television adaptation of All the Way, Emmy favorite Cranston is about as far from his Breaking Bad days as possible. The six-time winner may make it seven, especially since voters love it when actors play well known historical figures.

Tom Hiddleston The Night Manager AMC

As undercover spy Jonathan Pine, Hiddleston was perfect casting in this gorgeously filmed and tension-filled six part adaptation of the John le Carré novel.

You would be excused if you mistook the whole thing for a major feature film, since Hiddleston has the looks and style of a genuine film star and brought it all here. As someone who was constantly switching identities, it was also a tricky acting role. His only drawback is he made it all seem so effortless and natural.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride / PBS Emmy voters have already showered love on Cumberbatch’s unique take on the immortal Sherlock Holmes, with three previous nominations in the category resulting in a big win in 2014. Add to that the fact that Academy members are a sucker for anything British—and already may be Cumberbitches on their own—and he has a decent shot at an upset repeat victory after being AWOL last year.

Courtney B. Vance The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story / FX

According to nearly every critic, it was Vance who stole this ten-part limited series with an astonishing turn as slick lawyer Johnnie Cochran, the man who famously said, “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Vance dug deep into the role of a man we thought we knew but really didn’t.

With co-star Gooding Jr. to contend with, though, it is possible they may cancel each other out.

Although there are six nominees, they collectively come from just three shows, and this could surely benefit Hugh Laurie, an actor who was nominated every season for House but never won. His steely and frightening international arms dealer in AMC’s The Night Manager was a brilliant change of pace, and he is the only actor from that show nominated here.

Conversely Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian and John Travolta earning his first-ever Emmy nod as Robert Shapiro must all contend against each other in The People v. O.J. Simpson, likely cancelling themselves out. The same conundrum applies to the excellent Jesse Plemons and Bokeem Woodbine in Fargo. All three of the shows for which these actors are nominated had great critical and viewer success, so anything can happen, but odds favor the loner.

THE WINNER: Hugh Laurie. The class of the field and the most memorable character.

P E T E ’ S P I C K : B R YA N C R A N S T O N . E M M Y V O T E R S L O V E H I M . W H O D O E S N ’ T ?

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE This is a varied field of veteran stars, split evenly between a trio playing well-known real life—but very different—icons like Billie Holiday, Anita Hill and Marcia Clark and a trio of well-drawn fictional characters who seem absolutely authentic. Two of them are previous Emmy winners, one is a perennial bridesmaid—having been nominated five years in a row for different roles—and one is a first-timer, joining 2014’s Miniseries winner, Fargo. Here’s the rundown.

Audra McDonald

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill / HBO Re-creating one of her record-busting six-Tony-Award winning performances, McDonald, already an Emmy winner for Sweeney Todd, is aiming for a second statuette in her deservedly acclaimed one-woman show focusing on the great blues singer Billie Holiday. Her only drawback might be that voters will feel she has already been duly rewarded.

★

Sarah Paulson

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story / FX Paulson has been nominated for an Emmy now in each of the past five years, and each time for a completely different role, beginning with her Nicolle Wallace in Game Change. The only thing these roles have in common is that she managed to lose every time. She is going for her first win now as Marcia Clark, the prosecuting attorney, who has given her public blessing to Paulson’s performance. That may help finally do the trick.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Kirsten Dunst

Felicity Huffman

Joining the FX adaptation of the Oscarwinning movie Fargo in its second season, Dunst managed to make a strong mark on the show as Peggy Blumquist, and already won the Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her efforts. She stands a good chance of adding an Emmy to her haul, as the intriguing and tricky performance immediately won critics over and nearly stole the show this time around.

Huffman won an Emmy nomination last year in a different role on this ABC crime series, and now has been recognized again for her completely unique performance as Leslie Graham.

Acclaim aside, there wasn’t nearly the buzz for the show this season that there was when it first premiered, and she has to compete against co-star Lili Taylor, which could lead to a split vote. Fortunately the always-great Huffman has an Emmy already for Desperate Housewives.

Lili Taylor

Kerry Washington

In Season 1 we didn’t see much of Taylor, but in the second season—playing a working-class mother dealing with the horrible reality of her son’s sexual assault—she practically dominates the proceedings with a powerful, Emmyworthy performance.

The only drawback, as with Huffman, is that the co-stars have to compete against each other.

Twice-nominated for her D.C. set series Scandal, Washington’s third Emmy nomination comes for another project set in the nation’s capital, but in this case it’s all true. She plays Anita Hill, the woman who stood up to Clarence Thomas during his hearing for a seat on the Supreme Court with an accusation of sexual assault. Unlike the take-charge Olivia Pope, this time Washington skillfully and powerfully underplays it, and delivers an effective portrait of Hill in the HBO movie.

Fargo FX

American Crime ABC

American Crime ABC

Confirmation HBO

With the O.J. Simpson limited series failing to play here, FX still grabs three of the six slots for their other minis, where, as usual, there are multiple nominees from the otherwise flailing American Horror Story: Hotel. Kathy Bates, a past winner for a different role in the same series, is once again nominated, showing the love and respect voters have for this muchrewarded star, who has 14 nominations overall. And, lo and behold, Sarah Paulson has also grabbed her usual nomination, playing two distinct characters this time around on the same show. Not to be outdone is Jean Smart, grabbing her eighth overall nomination against three wins, this time for Fargo. Adding to the veteran vibe in the category is one of last year’s winners, Melissa Leo, back in the race as Lady Bird Johnson in HBO’s All the Way. Then consider the fact that American Crime’s Regina King— the surprise champ here last year—is back in a new role on the series. The only first time nominee is the sensational UK import Olivia Colman, as the woman out to bring Hugh Laurie’s arms dealing business to a halt in The Night Manager.

THE WINNER: Olivia Colman. First time’s the charm against a strong veteran lineup of actresses.

P E T E ’ S P I C K : S A R A H P A U L S O N I N A N A I L B I T E R O F A C O M P E T I T I V E C A T E G O R Y. D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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★ | flash mob

TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION SUMMER TOUR, JULY 26 - AUGUST 3, LOS ANGELES

RE X /S H U T T E RSTO CK

Top row, from left: Anthony Hopkins; Sarah Jessica Parker; Mindy Kaling and Ike Barinholtz; Harry Connick Jr.; Aline Brosh McKenna & Rachel Bloom.

This row, from left: Mariah Carey and dancers; Cynthia Nixon.

Bottom row, from left: Neil Patrick Harris; Stephen Colbert; Dolly Parton; Derek Hough and Kristin Chenoweth; James Marsden.

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FOR YOUR 2016

EMMY CONSIDERATION ®

CLAIRE DANES

O U T S TA N D I N G L E A D A CT R E S S IN A DRAMA SERIES HOMELAND

MAURA TIERNEY

O U T S TA N D I N G S U P P O R T I N G A CT R E S S I N A D R A M A S E R I E S T H E A F FA I R

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

HOMELAND

RAY DONOVAN OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR) EXSUSCITO ROBERT EDMONDSON R. RUSSELL SMITH HARRISON ‘DUKE’ MARSH

SHAMELESS OUTSTANDING STUNT COORDINATION FOR A COMEDY SERIES OR VARIETY PROGRAM EDDIE PEREZ

MASTERS OF SEX OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE PERIOD PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) THE EXCITEMENT OF RELEASE SURROGATES PARTY OF FOUR ELIZABETH H. GRAY VALERIE GREEN HALINA SIWOLOP

WILLIAM H. MACY

O U T S TA N D I N G L E A D A CTO R I N A D R A M A S E R I E S R AY D O N O VA N

O U T S TA N D I N G L E A D A CTO R IN A COMEDY SERIES SHAMELESS

JON VOIGHT

HANK AZARIA

O U T S TA N D I N G S U P P O R T I N G A CTO R I N A D R A M A S E R I E S R AY D O N O VA N

HOMELAND

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES THE TRADITION OF HOSPITALITY DAVID KLEIN, ASC

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LIEV SCHREIBER

O U T S TA N D I N G G U E S T A CTO R I N A D R A M A S E R I E S R AY D O N O VA N

THE TRADITION OF HOSPITALITY

LESLI LINKA GLATTER

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES MATTERS OF GRAVITY MARY ANN VALDES MATTHEW HOLMAN GEORGE GUZMAN

PENNY DREADFUL OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE CONTEMPORARY OR FANTASY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) FRESH HELL EVIL SPIRITS IN HEAVENLY PLACES AND HELL ITSELF MY ONLY FOE JONATHAN McKINSTRY JO RIDDELL PHILIP MURPHY OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES GLORIOUS HORRORS FERDINANDO MEROLLA SEVLENE RODDY GIULIANO MARIANO ORLA CARROLL

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

LISTEN TO ME MARLON O U T S TA N D I N G D O C U M E N TA R Y O R N O N F I CT I O N S P E C I A L

ALLISON JANNEY

O U T S TA N D I N G G U E S T A CT R E S S IN A DRAMA SERIES MASTERS OF SEX

RAY DONOVAN

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP FOR A SINGLECAMERA SERIES (NON-PROSTHETIC) GLORIOUS HORRORS ENZO MASTRANTONIO CLARE LAMBE CATERINA SISTO LORRAINE McCRANN MORNA FERGUSON OUTSTANDING PROSTHETIC MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL AND HELL ITSELF MY ONLY FOE NICK DUDMAN SARITA ALLISON BARNEY NIKOLIC PAUL SPATERI DENNIS PENKOV

EXSUSCITO

DAVID HOLLANDER

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE) AND THEY WERE ENEMIES ABEL KORZENIOWSKI OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS AND THEY WERE ENEMIES JAMES COOPER BILL HALLIDAY SARAH McMURDO MAI-LING LEE GREG ASTLES RICARDO GOMEZ MATT RALPH ALEXANDRE SCOTT KYLE YONEDA

TELEVISION ACADEMY MEMBERS WATCH AT SHO.COM/FYC

©2016 Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved. SHOWTIME is a registered trademark of Showtime Networks Inc., a CBS Company. Emmy® is a registered trademark of the Television Academy and NATAS. “The Affair”, “Penny Dreadful” & “Ray Donovan”: ©Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved. “Homeland”: ©Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. “Shameless”: ©Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. “Masters of Sex”: ©Sony Pictures Television and Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved. “Listen To Me Marlon”: ©2015 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. ©MB FILMS LTD 2014.

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